Most states in the U.S. have lifted social distancing restrictions that prevented live conferences from occurring, which has introduced the hybrid-conference experience. Many organizations like MGMA are now offering live and virtual exhibitor experiences for the same conference. The hybrid conference may take simultaneously or have the conferences at separate dates which can lead to hurdles for your team to face.

3 Reminders for Hybrid Conferences

1. Assign your live and virtual booth staff based on their strengths. You know your team better than anyone, so analyze their strengths and weaknesses to determine who should attend the virtual and live conference. For example, some platforms require video chats, as well as scheduling meetings, so you want to ensure that your tech-savvy people are on the virtual platform. If you or your team have questions about either conference, reach out to the show contact. Ensure that all booth staff receives their designated information to avoid confusion or miscommunication.
   
   
2. Market to both attendee types. This is an easy mistake to make (I made it earlier this year) because we often are focused on having great booth traffic at in-person events that we neglect the virtual booth. Ensure that you are also driving attendees to your virtual booth by including your booth’s URL on any marketing materials especially emails and social media. If you receive a pre-show list for the conference, filter to the attendee type so you can target why they should stop by the live or virtual booth.
   
   
3. Provide booth prizes for both in-person and virtual attendees. If your budget is tight and doesn’t allow for multiple drawings, do one big drawing that includes both types of attendees. You can have attendees drop off a business card or schedule a meeting with you for additional entries into the drawing. With virtual events, attendees lose the allure of coming to the exhibit hall to grab pens and other trinkets, so you must be creative with incentives for virtual attendees to stop by your booth. There are more than just e-gift cards to give as prizes; consider easy to ship items like headphones, smart-home devices, or a gift box of items.

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